


Molly’s Folly: Notes from an Amateur Cook’s Adventures in the Kitchen

by Aurae



Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: 5 Things, Cooking, Diary/Journal, Gen, Some Humor, Unconventional Fanwork Exchange 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25150090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurae/pseuds/Aurae
Summary: 5 consecutive days of Molly’s food blogging.
Comments: 34
Kudos: 67
Collections: Unconventional Fanwork Exchange 2020





	Molly’s Folly: Notes from an Amateur Cook’s Adventures in the Kitchen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KillClaudio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillClaudio/gifts).



###### Monday: Baked Beans on Toast 

Today I have endeavoured to prepare shop-bought staples from scratch. On the advice of `@redcurryrice`, I elected to focus my efforts on a British breakfast classic, baked beans on toast.

`@dyingforAfag` will be pleased to hear that I did _not_ use tinned beans. I boiled dried navy beans and recycled the leftover water in order to thicken the sauce. The sauce was flavoured with tomato, vinegar, sugar, onion, garlic, and pinches of salt and black pepper.

I did have to use shop-bought white flour for the bread, however. The loaf which resulted was nicely soft and chewy with hardly any flake to the crust whatsoever. I cut the slices into squares. These toasted up quite nicely on the girdle.

Abigail said she appreciated my efforts in vegan cuisine but wished for a meal that was less “white.” Peter acted puzzled and asked me if breakfast was courtesy of Heinz and Hovis, which made Thomas smile at me over the breakfast table. Any smile from Thomas I count as a win.

Overall, I would rate this meal a success, and I plan to capitalise on the positive feedback I’ve received in the kitchen tomorrow. 

`Posted by: @jollygoodcook, 11:08 AM, 1 April 20XX`

###### Tuesday: Vegan Chili

For tonight’s supper, as I was informed that Abigail would again be staying overnight, I prepared two batches of Mexican-style chili. One was vegan, especially for Abigail, and the other included bits of pre-browned mince horsemeat.

I continue not to understand why horsemeat is consistently labelled “beef” in the shops, but I seem to be the only one capable of tasting the difference, as they say in the Sainsbury’s, so I suppose it doesn’t matter overmuch.

Given Abigail’s wish for a meal that was less “white,” both batches included plenty of black beans and dark red kidney beans and thrice as many green chilis as `@hawtstufftoday`’s recipe calls for. Also, chili usually includes lots of tomato, cumin, and chili powder (all of which are coloured red).

I also baked a pumpernickel loaf using the darkest rye flour I could find.

All in all, I’m delighted by the results. Peter devoured two bowls of each batch, and the vegan batch made Abigail sniffle and cry uncontrollably with joy. Thomas offered his compliments to the chef…though he was sneezing and coughing so hard he had to repeat himself several times before I could make out the words.

` Posted by: @jollygoodcook, 9:24 PM, 2 April 20XX `

###### Wednesday: Lamb Curry Sandwiches

Sahra and Peter went on stakeout today. Peter poked his unwelcome nose into the kitchen early this morning to say that he would have whatever she was having, meaning whatever Sahra was having. So I prepared two identical packed lunches.

Sahra, as many of you already know, is an observant Muslim with particular dietary requirements. `@redcurryrice` has my eternal, undying gratitude for explaining what Halal is and how it works in practice in the kitchen.

For today’s packed lunch, I stewed cubes of lamb in a coconut milk-based yellow curry, wrapped them in lettuce leaves, and put the little pouches between slices of bread—one white left over from Monday on the bottom and one dark rye left over from yesterday on the top.

If either Peter or Sahra had any complaints about their lamb curry sandwiches, they never got back to me with them.

In personal news, yum, I love sheep meat! It’s so ridiculously difficult not to nibble whilst working, wouldn’t you know, and it’s especially difficult not to nibble whilst butchering a whole carcass. I have plans for a surprise feast tomorrow; I can’t wait to share the details with you!

` Posted by: @jollygoodcook, 3:53 PM, 3 April 20XX `

###### Thursday: Mutton Feast

`@DarkHorseCandidate`’s blog on nose-to-tail eating has been an important influence on my culinary thinking of late, and I have been eager to apply their advice to my kitchen.

For Thursday’s supper, I prepared a mutton feast. After prepping all day yesterday (save for a brief break to update this blog), I cooked all day today. The meat and its myriad natural flavours were kept front and centre, unadulterated by spices or sauces. Small dishes of mint jelly for each diner were my only concession.

Supper was over two hours later than is customary this evening, but given the results, I could not have been prouder of the resultant spread. I believe Peter was mightily impressed as well: He spent most of the meal staring at the sheep’s head I had placed on our best silver platter, although strangely he did not seem to want to try either a slice of the brain or one of the eyeballs. He also spent a lot of time staring at the testicles, but he did not seem to want to try them either, sadly.

Thomas ate everything I put before him—including generous portions of kidney, liver, and brain. He _also_ devoured the larger and juicer of the two testicles. What a dear! Truly, he is a man after my own heart.

Post-mutton feast bonus: I have enough meat left over to repurpose into several meals in the forthcoming days.

` Posted by: @jollygoodcook, 1:40 AM, 5 April 20XX `

###### Friday: Pasta Bake

`@dyingforAfag`’s Friday Kitchen Challenge is a pasta bake!

Tubular pasta shapes are most common for pasta bakes, with ziti and penne being typical. I, however, decided to use rigatoni; the deep ridges and extra large circumference would be most conducive to holding the maximum amount of sauce and cheese.

I prepared a classic tomato and basil meat sauce, featuring meat left over from yesterday’s mutton feast. When finely chopped, organ meat can be mixed indiscriminately with loin. And, when layered with cheese, the fat-to-protein ratio is less of a concern. I used a mixture of mild cheddar, smoked mozzarella, and blue Stilton, with grated Parmesan on top and baked until the Parmesan was brown and crispy.

The pasta bake was a hit. Peter ate a quarter of the tray in one sitting. You know, it occurs to me now how amazing it is that some people are so much more willing to eat sheep brain and testicle when offered it in a different presentation…

Oh dear, I hear Peter coming up to the carriage house. I’d better go. ttyl!

` Posted by: @jollygoodcook, 8:39 PM, 5 April 20XX `

**Author's Note:**

> Posted to the exchange on July 9, 2020.


End file.
